A large number of individuals are afflicted with diseases or other conditions requiring repeated administration of injections or medications. Injections are often safer, more effective, and more comfortable if they can be applied in a different site of the body for each injection. However, it can be difficult for patients or caregivers to remember where and when they last injected a medication, particularly if the patient is afflicted with a disease requiring large numbers of repeat injections, such as diabetes or multiple sclerosis. One result of repeatedly injecting a site before the patient's body part has healed is that the affected area can develop calluses, scars or nodules which ultimately prevent the medication from effectively entering the patient or from entering the patient's body at all. Injection site reactions are often a reason patients cite for discontinuing a prescribed injection regimen. Therefore, reminder systems have been developed in an effort to minimize the adverse effects of an injection regimen.
One existing reminder system involves a patient or caregiver using a checklist on a piece of paper to track rotation among injection sites. The patient or caregiver may list future injection sites, and cross out past injection sites that have already been injected. However, such checklists can be difficult or burdensome to use, particularly for children, because checklists require organization and responsibility. Indeed, younger children often have not yet developed the ability to distinguish between the left and right sides of their body. Furthermore, children may quickly tire of an organizational system perceived as “boring.” Even if an adult caregiver applies injections for children, such children are less likely to be emotionally accepting of the medication process with such an apparatus that does not make tracking injection sites simple, attractive and understandable.
Another existing reminder system is a plastic pillbox with dividers representing days of the week, days of the month, times of the day, or a combination thereof. However, such systems are not conducive to injection medications.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a system and method that is simple, intuitive, and convenient to use, to track methodically prior injection sites and remind the patient or caregiver where to make the next successive injection. There is a further need for a system that supports flexibility in the rotation, timing, location, and type of injection sites. There is a still further need for a system that is attractive and fun, and that encourages children and adults to continue use of the reminder system. Such a system would also encourage patients to continue using the underlying medication at the appropriate dosages and may minimize side effects associated with the medication.